


A Dozen Spinning Wheels

by gardnerhill



Category: Mой нежно любимый детектив | My Dearly Beloved Detective (1986), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Community: watsons_woes, Fairy Tale Elements, Gen, Hats, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-12 03:43:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15330978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gardnerhill/pseuds/gardnerhill
Summary: A classic fairy-tale test: Do. Not. Look. At. The. Thing.





	A Dozen Spinning Wheels

Dressing as a man was an amazing (and surprising) source of freedom, Jane had learned. When she strode out to accompany Shirley Holmes in like costume, Watson had her eyes opened to the difference in the roles. Both of them were treated with more respect by everyone, male and female; men left them to their own devices (instead of ogling them or intruding on them under the guise of bestowing compliments); everyone more readily gave them information and treated them as intelligent people with authority. In turn Jane became better at acting like a man - looking directly at everyone on the street instead of a quick glance and then back down in ladylike propriety, striding instead of stepping lightly, bellowing in laughter instead of tittering. And how odd it was to feel safe (well, saf _er_ ) while travelling shady streets in evening or night hours.

In addition to all that, the clothing was much easier to deal with. It was … _fun_ … to take big steps in in trousers and boots instead of the small ladylike steps required by confining undergarments and delicate shoes. Breathing and moving was better in men's clothes too, even if Jane did feel naked at first without her corset and bustle and petticoats underneath everything. She still felt silly wearing the moustache but Shirley had shown her how their false facial hair hid the womanly curves of their lips.

What Jane hadn't thought about, was temptations.

One summer evening Shirley Holmes took her partner to meet a contact in a higher-end financial district, which had necessitated fine gentlemen's clothing for both of them rather than workmen's togs or sailors' slops. The collar and cuffs were snug, as was the waistcoat, but nothing to compare to the way women's garments cinched a body in. Jane strolled next to her partner, reveling in the freedom of her state of dress.

"There," Shirley said in her low masculine register, as people came and went around them on the street, or looked at the displays in the shop windows. "Our target is down at Price's Tobacco." And there was their contact, ostensibly appraising the cigars in the display.

Jane took a step.

"Don't!" Snapped low, and still in masculine timbre. Jane froze as if she'd been stopped from stepping on a rusty nail. What was the problem?

"Watson," Holmes hissed, very sternly. "Look at the man, and the shop. We are interested in perusing that shop too, very interested in the new pipes and the tobacco. Do NOT look at nor go near the store we're about to pass – don't even pay attention to it."

Like a fool, Jane's eyes (not her head) shot once to the milliner's they approached on this side of the street.

…Oh. It was _gorgeous_. A riot of ostrich feathers and tumbled satin in the most beautiful creamy pale pink, it would be the perfect, oh she HAD to go see –

 _Don't. Move. Don't. Look._ Men _do not squeal and run to look at the contents of hat shops. Don't. Look._

But it was so _beautiful_ and she wouldn't be back here for–

Teeth clenched, eyes averted, Jane strode past with Shirley, keeping her gaze fixed on the stupid smelly tobacco shop instead, where several gentlemen stood and discussed cuts and flakes before the window glass. Oh, men were such idiots.

Holmes greeted the fellows in the same casual masculine tone, and even covered for Jane's tight-lipped irritation ("My friend John here's disliked this place ever since they stopped carrying Virginia Shred"). And in moments they were alone with their informant, ostensibly chuckling at the ridiculously-carved meerschaums.

Jane Watson had undergone more pressing challenges as Holmes' colleague, but that was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do whilst in male costume. It had been worth it, however; Holmes had been able to tip off the bank manager just before John Clay would have made off with a shipment of gold in the vault, and they'd been handsomely rewarded.

And when Jane came into the office and saw that perfect hat on her desk two mornings after the case, Shirley smiled at the high-pitched squeal her friend made as she rushed to try it on.

**Author's Note:**

> For the 2018 July Watson's Woes Promptfest prompt #17, _Hats Hats Hats!_ Let the art of the haberdasher and milliner inspire you today. Bonus point if you include a picture of a hat that inspired your work!
> 
>  
> 
> **The Hat of Hats:**  
> 


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